Fixing My Community Supplies Area!

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this Before and After! My Community Supplies Area has been such a lifesaver with tables, but *wow*, was it ever a mess if every student needed the same color of marker-- duck and cover!

I am excited to share with you how I quickly (and cheaply!) solved that problem this afternoon:

With the help of Tracy from Creekside Teacher Tales, I was able to make this adorable marker station for around $20!

Here's what you'll need:

• Sterlite Mini 3-drawers (x3)-- I got mine at Walmart (they had black and white) and they were around $7 a piece
• Tracy's freebie HERE
• Markers (leftover from last year)
• Clear tape

I printed out her freebie and made one extra drawer of "white, black, brown" to make nine labels total. I'll just be telling the kids the "white" means "gray"... no biggie :)

I taped these to the inside of the drawer, then sorted my messy tubs of markers into these nine, color-coded drawers.

The results make me grin from ear to ear!

Don't be jealous of my drab-fab 1970's era countertop ;) ;)

Inside each drawer, you will find:

My heart sings :)

In the teal bins on either side that hold up the shelf, I have filled the drawers with extras of:

• glue sticks
• scissors
• erasers
• color pencils
• sticky notes
• hand pencil sharpeners

That way, if a glue stick from their Table Supply Bins is dried out, they can quickly get a new one from these drawers without too much interruption. Same goes for erasers and markers.

I also restrict the use of Table Bins so they can stay nice for when we need them for a class project, so this area does get a bit of traffic during Friday Free Choice Time if kiddos want to color, or during Ketchup & Pickle Time if a student needs to finish an assignment.

The top board is just a shelf from the hardware store that I spray painted and on top, we store tape dispensers, lined paper, and white paper.

To the left, you can see my Sharp & Dull Pencil Bins (a freebie you can find HERE) and my ruler holder (tutorial HERE).

I hope this gives you some good ideas for your own Community Supplies Area and be sure to head to Creekside Teacher Tales to pick up this adorably cute freebie!!

PS- Congratulations to Karin S.-- check your email because you are the winner of my Writing the Playbook Giveaway!! Be sure to check back next month for September's book :)